Lawn-trimmer.



No. 897,436. PATENTED SEPT. 1, 1908.

` H. WATKINS.

LAWN TRIMMER.

APPLICATION FILED 00T. "l, 1907.

WTNESSEQS I INVENTOR jfayy WATKINQS'.

UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEIcE.v

HARRY WATKINS, OF UTICA, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOHNSON G.DEWHURST,

OF DEERFIELD, NEW YORK. i

LAWN-TRIMMER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 1, 1908.

Application filed October 7, 1907. Serial No. 396,197.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be itknown that I, HARRY WATKINS, a citizen of the 'United States,residing at Utica, in the county of Oneida and Stateof .New York, haveinvented certain new and trimmer, and I'declare that the following is afull, clear, concise,and exact description thereof, sufficient to enableone skilled in the art to inake and use the same, reference being andFig. 3' is a like view of the machine on the hadto the accompanyingdrawings in which like reference numerals refer to like partsthroughout.

The invention is disclosed in the form of an implement for use intrimming the edges of lawns, adjacent walks, gardens, fences, monumentsand the like, whereby the device can be passed close along the edge andbe tilted to any desired'angle for the degree of trim to be made. f

The form here shown comprises a frame mounted on a handle, with a studprojecting therefrom. On one side of the frame are mounted the cuttingmembers and on` the other side is means for actuating the samethroughthe operation of the riding wheel.

Other features of.I the invention will appear from the drawings andspecifications, in the former of which Figure 1 is a top view of thedevice with a portion of the riding wheel broken away and a portion ofthe handle removed; Fig. 2 is a view from the side which carries thecutting members, with part of the handle removed;

from which at another point extends the.

knife-bracket 3. rlhe handle bracket 2 consists of an arm pierced, as at4, for a bolt to secure the wooden handle 5, and having in its extremitya segmental slot 6 with hole 7 by which the handle 5 can be secured inadjustment for the operator conveniently to drive the machine with agreater or lessl elevation of the cutting knives above the sur-` face.The handle 5 is provided atits end with a grip 8 to permit the operatorconven- Fig. 2.

iently to tilt the machine on its riding or traction wheel, so as to cutthe edge of the lawn on a greater or less bevel, it being, of course,understood that by raising the handle the machine can be tilted sidewisca greater extent thanwhen the handle is lower. The raising of the handof the operator and the tilting of the machine on the riding wheelcooperate to make this possible. The machine also can be operated for agreateror less length of cut by simply raising the handle so as to liftthe cutting device more or less above the surface,

as shown comparatively inFigs. 2 and 3.

Thel knife bracket 3 extends from the frame 1 downwardly and has twoelevated ribs or lugs, 9 and 10, and a studll (Fig. 3) by means of whichthe fixed blade 12 is mounted rigidly With the frame, the blade 12having a lug 13 which is pierced to be swingably mounted on the pin orstud 11,v the adjustment being fixed by means of set-screws 14. Theblade 12 projects outwardly, as seen in Fig. v1, to cooperate with therevolving blades to be described.

. Adjacent the periphery of the disk portion of the frame is a sleeve 15in which is. revolubly mounted the stud 16 which carries the pinion 17,thestud 16 and the pinion 17 formingv parts of the o )erative mechanism.Centrally mounted on the frame disk is stud 18 on which is revolublymounted the riding or traction Wheel 19, the periphery of which istransversely corrugated as is commonly done, and the wheel having aninterior gear 20 to engage with the pinion 17 so that the movement ofthe devlc(` on the Wheel revolves the stud 16. On the outer end of thestud is secured a knife-spider 21 which comprises a head portion bywhich it is mounted on the stud and blade supports 22 which extend fromthc head substantially parallel to the studs 15 and 16. There are threeof these blade supports 22, as will be seen in the studs, but are formedsomewhat spirally thereto as commoifily seen in devices where there arcrevolving blades, so that one end of each blade meets the fixed cuttingblade l2 before the other end does. Each ofthcse blade supports, ofwhich. three are shown, carries a blade 23 fixedly mounted thereon. Itwill be seen that the device thus comprises a frame with studs to carryrevolving knives and a traction or riding Wheel by which it is operated,with operative connectionslthere- They are not exactly parallel withbetween, and that pushing or pulling the dcv1ce over the groundwlll'revolve the blades 1n the direction 111 which the rlding wheelturns.

It will be seen that so far as the construction has been .described thctilting of the same is apt to drive the free end ofthe blades into theground or, for instance, against the surface of the adjacent walk orinto other.

circle in which the edge of the l'evolving blades travel, the relativemounting of the several parts being such that the periphery of the diskin the ordinary use of the Inachine will strike for instance the surfaceof the walk and keep the knives therefrom, and will also )revent gougingof the lawn no matter to wl1 may be tilted or otherwise handled.

1t will be apparent that modifications in the details of constructionmay be made in the device without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention, which I have shown in a single embodiment.

Having described my invention, what -I claim as new and desire to'secure by Letters Patent, is:

1 A device of the character described having a frame, an integral sleeveproj yceting lat- `erally therefrom, with a free end, a bladesupportingframe having a portion mounted in the'sleeve with its arms extendedalongside the sleeve and adapted to support blades thereon, the saidmemberhaving a guard comprising a disk mounted at thc outer ends of theblades and beyond thel end of the -iixcd blade., substantially as setforth.

2. A device of the character described havi ing a frame, a handlemounted thereon, a

sleeve projecting laterally from the frame and supp'ortcd only at oneend on the frame, a shaft mounted in the sleeve and projectingtherefrom, horizontally disposed revolving cutting members mounted onthe projectingI end of the shaft, a bracket, a fixedv blade adjustablymounted on the bracket extended outwardly beyond the edge of the framein coperation with the revolving cutting mem-l bers, and means forrevolving said cutting tocberadjkusted thereon to adjust the edge of iatextent or howsoever the device said blade vertically, and a stud mountedin the sleeve having apinion at one end to engage the wheel teeth and atthe outer end of the sleeve having blade-su porting arms extendingbackward towar( the frame and blades supported thereon, .substantiallyas set forth.

4. A device of the character described having a frame, an integralsleeve pro'ectinor laterally therefrom, with a free en supporting framemounted in the sleeve with its arms extended alon side thefsleeve andadapted rto support bla( es thereon, substantially as set forth. I 5. Adevice of the character describedhaving a single traction wheel wherebyto ride and operate the device, a sleeve mounted at one end only on thesaid device and projecting laterally therefrom with the outerend free,and cutting members mounted to revolve around said sleeve and extendingalongside thereof, whereby the tilting of the device on the wheel isoperative ,toipontrol the plane of work in the cuttingoperation,substantially as set forth. l

', a blade- In a device of the character described, a

frame, a blade pivotally mounted on theframe and projecting outwardlytherefrom in an unsupported end, means on the frame to adjust saidblade, a sleeve integraly with the frame pro'ecting likewise its endunsupported, a shaft in the sleeve and cutting members mountejl on theshaft to revolve around the slee e and supported solely by the shaft, incombination ,with

means'for rotating the cutting members, substantially as set forth.

7. In a device ofthe character described, a frame, a sleeve thereon, astud revoluble in the sleeve and cutting members su orted at the' outerendv of the stud, a -fxedlb ade, the said members having a guardcomprising a disk mounted on the outer ends of the cuttingv members andbevond the end of the fixed blade, substantially as set forth.

8. In a device of the character described, a

riding wheel, a frame, a handle carried thereon, 1nd a horizontal blademounted on the ramo at one end and horizontally disposed revolvingcuttmg blades mounted to coperate with the former blade in cutting, the

outer ends of the said several blades being free, the revolving cuttingblades having at their free ends a guard mounted beyond the frec'cndsofall said blades, substantially as set forth.

IELEANoR T. DE GIORGI.

